Review Summary: Doc, can you please stop removing my organs, I need those for living and stuff.
To start off, I am not a grind expert. I was assigned this album for the 'review a random album' game. To familiarize myself with the whole genre, I listened to a few albums that Sputnik considers grind masterpieces (Terrifyer, Symphonies of Sickness, Heartwork) before approaching this album. I am not an expert corpse grinder yet, so read this review from the point of view of someone who is listening to a goregrind album for the first time.
It may be a total hoax, but this band's background is very interesting. All of The County Medical Examiner's band members are (or are soon to be) certified doctors. Yes, that's right, the people in charge of saving your life. Each member has either graduated with a Doctor of Medicine or is currently in medical school. For this album, the band consisted of Dr. Morton Fairbanks (guitar, vocals), Dr. Jack Putnam (drums, vocals) and Michelle Hayes (bass, vocals). The story goes that Michelle met the rest of the band at a morgue where they worked (you know, the place where all of the cool grind bands hang out). The names used are only pseudonyms, and there is a belief that The County Medical Examiners is just a side project of the band Exhumed. Even if this is true, I have to give the band props for putting so much effort into such a strange concept. A goregrinding doctor is pretty damn scary. Also looking at the pictures of the band in nice white hospital coats is truly sidesplitting.
Like I mentioned in the beginning, I listened to a few grind albums before listening to Medicolegal Medleys and, I have to say, musically, this album does not match up to albums like Terrifyer or Symphonies of Sickness. Yes, this album is still chaotic and overly violent like most grind albums. But, after the initial shock, I found all of the songs to be too similar to each other. That does not mean, though, that I found nothing to like. The ridiculous nature of the album makes it entertaining. The lyrics, for example, sound like they are taken directly from an anatomy textbook and then mixed with somebody's bizarre death fetish. The vocals consist of a high impish snarl and a very low guttural bellow that is very common in this genre. Combined with the lyrics, the vocals provide a visual of a schizophrenic doctor that cannot stop cutting open his patients. The guitars and drums are not overly technical and are what you would expect from this kind of album: they grind and chug. The rare solos are highlights of the album. I found NH2(CH2)4NH2 & C5H14N2 (Putrescine & Cadaverine) and Y-Shaped Thoracoabdominal Incision to be the most interesting tunes. However, if you like your grind as disgusting as possible, Algor Mortis will fit your fancy.
LIKES
- Ridiculous in concept, lyrics and performance
- Nothing too serious about this album. Music for slicing up corpses and having a good time
- Not excellent, but solid grind music
DISLIKES
- Almost every song sounds the same
- I know it comes with the genre, but the vocals are really annoying
- Guitars could be more interesting
Recommended for people who enjoy early Carcass and the smell of formaldehyde.
